would use too much fuel. Two 5-cent se-tenant stamps comprise one illustration of an astronaut during a space walk, honoring the space accomplishments of the United States. These issues were first placed on sale on September 29, 1967, at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The offset press and intaglio press were combined to produce this issue in sheets bearing one horizontal plate number. Offset printed the red stripes in the flags on the astronaut's spacesuit and capsule and light blue sky areas, as well as the inscription on the astronaut stamp. The Giori press printed dark blue sky areas, the aqua earth, and black tones on the capsule and astronaut. The inscription on the spaceship stamp was white. This issue was designed by Paul Calle of Stamford, Connecticut, who based his design from photos taken on the Gemini IV mission. The issue was printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. It was issued in panes of fifty, with an initial printing of 120 million. Apollo 8 Issue of 1969 Up until the time of the Apollo 8 mission all manned ventures into space were confined to brief flights into space or to orbiting the Earth. Apollo 8 was the first human spaceflight mission to leave Earth orbit; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crew to voyage and then return to planet Earth from another celestial body – Earth's Moon. The three-man crew of mission Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders became the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes, as well as the first humans to see planet Earth from beyond low Earth orbit. The mission was accomplished with the first manned launch of a Saturn V rocket. Apollo 8 was the second manned mission of the Apollo Program. While orbiting the Moon each man on board read a section from the Biblical creation story (verses 1–10) from the Book of Genesis, and it is this unprecedented historical event that is theme of the Apollo VIII issue's design, the issue being inscribed with the words, In the beginning God... superimposed on the photograph Earthrise, taken by Anders. Borman finished the broadcast by wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone on Earth. This issue was first released in Houston Texas on May 5,